Employee Benefits Communication: An Opportunity for Customization

Ben Renner |
Oct 25, 2017 |
Employee Communications

Employee benefits communication practices have evolved and gotten better for employers to help their workers sign up for healthcare benefits. As medical insurance focuses on HSAs, so too does the focus shift to flexibility as a desirable trait for all employee health benefits plans.

Employee benefits communication has to change along with the employee benefits themselves. According to a recent study, ‘non-traditional’ benefits are projected to become more popular with employees in the next two years. Customization and access to these non-traditional benefits, such as identity theft protection and pet insurance are much more important to employees than ever.

The Rising Stakes of Effective Employee Benefits Communication

Employers can offer things like pet insurance and identity theft protection, but if these options aren’t properly communicated to employees, they become massive wastes of money. You’ve read about email video communications and other use of video to help explain insurance options and show, rather than tell, employees their insurance options.

Get New Hires into the Game

The hiring process is difficult enough only for a new-hire to try to sign up for benefits and find brick walls. Making it easy for new employees to find the coverage they need and sign up for it should be a top priority for all organizations. One problem that often hamstrings employers is the wide array of ages and generations in the workforce today. A given organization has to cater communications and benefits options to Millennials while keeping Baby Boomers happy. Meanwhile, Generation Z is entering the workforce right now as well (feel old yet?). Getting new-hires into medical insurance programs is a key part of any recruiting and onboarding effort. That’s why employee benefits communications programs have improved quickly over the past few years, to keep up with multi-generational workplaces that need different options and even communication styles to engage.

Customization Is King

The bottom line is, different employees want different options for their medical insurance benefits plans. They need different employee benefits communication tactics at times, and customization of these plans is one way employers can get their employees more engaged and willing to add to the company culture. Aligning all of the appropriate partners to ensure efficient enrollment and the integrated application of products is tricky, but in the end, it’s worth providing an increasingly diverse workforce with the options they want in their health insurance coverage and more. Avoiding the ‘cookie-cutter’ health plans is increasingly important, especially with many organizations drawing talented workers with their all-inclusive health care plans with fully customizable options. Customization is the wave of the future, as are increasingly engaging and informative ways of communicating these options to all employees. It takes a larger initial investment in time and money to find the best healthcare options, but in the long run, it’s worth the cost. The Returns on Investment can’t always be measured in dollars and cents right away, but if you’re patient, the ROI will be measured in real savings.